Plague Mentioned in the Ahadith

The plague is not only mentioned in the Qur’an, rather it is also mentioned in the ahadith and the Bible as well. Firstly, the Qur’an states:

وَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِنَ الْأَرْضِ تُكَلِّمُهُمْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا لَا يُوقِنُونَ {83}

And when the sentence is passed against them, We shall bring forth for them a germ out of the earth, which shall wound them because people did not believe in Our Signs. (Chapter 27 Verse 83)

تُكَلِّمُهُمْ means “to wound”. This word is aorist from كلم (kallama).  كلمة means, he talked to him or he conversed with him much and freely; he wounded him (Aqrab). Munjid has also said the same and states that he bit him, which also means to wound.

The anti Ahmadi Muslims try to mock this translation. Little do they know, that the Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw used this word in the exact same way. It is narrated in Sahih Bukhari:

كُلُّ كَلْمٍ يُكْلَمُهُ الْمُسْلِمُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ يَكُونُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ كَهَيْئَتِهَا

A wound which a Muslim receives in Allah’s cause will appear on the Day of Resurrection as it was…” (Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith #237)

There are many ahadith about the plague. We see in Sahih Muslim it is narrated:

فَيَرْغَبُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ فَيُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهُمُ النَّغَفَ فِي رِقَابِهِمْ فَيُصْبِحُونَ فَرْسَى كَمَوْتِ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ

“The Messiah and his companions would supplicate to Allah, Who would make a boil appear on the necks of the opponents (referring to the plague) and in the morning they would perish like one single person” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith #2937 a)

The Holy Prophet^saw prophesied in regards to the end times:

قَالَ ‏”‏ إِنَّهَا لَنْ تَقُومَ حَتَّى تَرَوْنَ قَبْلَهَا عَشْرَ آيَاتٍ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ فَذَكَرَ الدُّخَانَ وَالدَّجَّالَ وَالدَّابَّةَ

”  It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast…” (Sahih Muslim Hadih 2901 a)

In Biharul Anwar, it is stated:

قدام القائم موتتان موت أحمر وموت أبيض ، الموت الأحمر السيف ، والموت الأبيض الطاعون .

“In the time of the Mahdi, there will be two types of death. Firstly a red death and secondly a white death. The red death is the sword (meaning people will die with violence) and the white death is the plague” (Biharul Anwar)

Hadhrat Imam Hussein^ra has also translated تُكَلِّمُهُمْ as an insect which would bite and wound them (Biharul Anwar)

Furthermore, Hadhrat Ahmad^as himself has referenced the verses of the Qur’an and ahadith in his books. Below is a beautiful passage in which he^as explains this sign:

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as himself explains this beautiful prophecy which was fulfilled in him.He states:

” I had the following dream about the plague: I saw an animal which was as large as an elephant, but its face resembled that of a man and some of its limbs were like those of other animals. And I saw that the hand of Providence had created it just like that. I found myself sitting in a place and all around me were forests which were full of oxen, donkeys, horses, dogs, swine, wolves, camels, and so on. I was made to understand that all these were actually human beings who had been given these shapes because of their misdeeds. Then I saw that the animal, which was huge as an elephant and was a compound of various forms, and which had emerged from the earth by Providence, came and sat down near me with its face pointing to the north. It seemed to be a silent creature and modesty was apparent from its eyes. Every few minutes it would run into one of the forests, and, the moment it entered, cries like doomsday would be heard from there. It would start devouring the animals and one could hear it chewing their bones. After every such raid it would come back and sit down close to me for some ten or so minutes, after which he expression of its face, that it was helpless in the matter, and was only doing what it was commanded. It appeared to me to be a gentle and pious creature, who did nothing on its own, but only did whatever it was commanded to do. it would charge into some other forest, and the same things would take place as before, after which it would again return to me. Its eyes were very large and I studied it carefully each time it came back. It would convey to me, by t

Then it was conveyed to me that this animal was in fact the plague, and was دَابَّةً  الْأَرْضِ   [the insect of the earth], regarding which God had promised in the Holy Quran that He would bring it out in the latter days, and it would bite people because they did not believe in His signs. God Almighty says:

وَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِنَ الْأَرْضِ تُكَلِّمُهُمْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا لَا يُوقِنُونَ {27:83}

…He again Says:

وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ مِنْ كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ فَوْجًا مِمَّنْ يُكَذِّبُ بِآيَاتِنَا فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ {84} حَتَّىٰ إِذَا جَاءُوا قَالَ أَكَذَّبْتُمْ بِآيَاتِي وَلَمْ تُحِيطُوا بِهَا عِلْمًا أَمَّاذَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ {85} وَوَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِمَا ظَلَمُوا فَهُمْ لَا يَنْطِقُونَ {86}

And remind them of the day when We shall gather together from every people a party from among those who rejected Our Signs, and they shall be placed in separate bands. Till when they come, He will say, ‘Did you reject My Signs hastily while you had not yet gained full knowledge about them? If not this what else was it, that you were doing?’ And the sentence shall fall upon them because they did wrong, and they will not be able to speak (Chapter 27 Verses 84-86)

… In short, the very دَابَّةً  الْأَرْضِ   always been destined to appear at the time of the Promised Messiah. It was the same animal of many features that I had seen in my dream. And it was put in my heart that this was the germ of the plague, which God had named ‘the insect of the earth’ because this disease is caused by germs that come out of the earth. It first affects rats and then assumes various forms. Just as it affects people, so does it affect every other animal, and that is why it was shown to me in various forms in the vision.” (Nuzul-ul-Masih, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 18, Pages 415-417)